Combined beach hat and fan



Nov. 15, 1938; N. P. RiSTELL ET AL.

COMBINED BEACH HAT AND FAN Filed May 29, 1937 VE 0P5 NANCY P RISTELL ARTHUR TELL Patented Nov. 15, 1938 UNITED STAT PATENT OFFICE A 2,136,925? l V 7 .VCVOMBINED BEACH nA'rtAnn FAN" Nancy 1 Re lm Arthur st ring... 111." Application May 29,1937; S er'ialNo. 145,444

,4 i -'1 01..,2%1 i1 j The present invention relates in generalto a" costume article and is particularly concerned with a combination hat and fan which is so ar- 1 ranged that it may have its parts moved into such 5 relationship as to form a fan, if desired or these parts may with equal facility be so arranged as to form a sport hat for beachwear and the like.

Also, when the article is not being used, these parts may be moved to form a knock-down as' sembly so as to permit the article to be carried conveniently or stored in a relatively small space.

It is therefore a primary object of the inven tion to provide a novel folding combination hat and fan.

A further object is to provide improved means for retaining the hat is assembled condition, yet which may be readily actuated to enable the hat to be folded to knock-down conditions."

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel hat of the character'described which may be readily adjusted to vary the height of the crown and the position of the brim thereof.

Still another object of the invention resides in the provision of improved means for holding the -35 hat in non-slipping engagement with the head of the wearer.

In accordance with the general features of the present invention, a sheet of, suitable material "is provided, which sheet is transversely pleatedthroughout its length. One set of ends of the pleats is secured together in gathered relationship, leaving the other ends free to be expanded and contracted; It will be obvious that with the construction so far described, the device may be readily opened and closed so as to form a fan in its open position. n

In order to permit the use of the structureas a hat, the end pleats or end portions of the sheet are provided with detachable securing means, such as snap-buttons, talon fasteners or the like,

whereby the end pleats of the sheet may readily be secured together. When the end pleatsare thus secured, the material forms a conical shaped hat having radially extending pleats which stiffen the material in a radial direction: I

An additional feature of the invention is to' provide ties which are secured to the gathered ends of the pleats and are carried through the vertex of the hat so as to enable these ties to be suitably fastened under the chin of the wearer.

These ties are also used to adjust the height of the hat, that is, to pull the vertex down relative to the rim of the hat, thus causing a tilting of the pleated portions on the head of the wearer,

and tending to raise or lower the hat brim. Of

course; the-hat may be secured in adjusted position-merely by first adjusting it and then tying the ties so as to hold the'hat in desired position;

Other objects and features of the invention willmore fully appear from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, which illustrates a preferred embodimentthereof, and in which:

Figure l'isa view illustrating the manner in whichthehat embodying principles of this invention is worn, and showing diagrammatically themanner of adjusting the brim on the head of a'wearer;

Fignre} shows the article when utilized as a a "Figure 3 is a plan view illustrating the position of the various parts when in knock-down relation, when impartially assembled relation to form a fan, and when in fully assembled relation to form ahat;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the vertex of the hat as it appears from the side, showing the relationship of the various parts; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary portion of the pleated material, showing the manner in which the lower fold edge of a pleat may be provided with serrations for making non-slipping engagement with the head of the wearer.

As shown on the drawing:

The present invention comprises a novel structurewhich 'mayjbe normally folded to occupy a small space so asto be easily carried or stored. The-device may be actuated tomove its parts to partially assembled position, wherein these parts will form a fan. Also; the parts, by further movernent may be disposedin fully assembled relationto form, a sport hat of pleasing appearance.

More specifically, the device is constructed of. a sheet fof suitable material, such as paper or the likejlwhich may, if'desired, be coated on one surfacelwitha water-resisting material. Of course, it is also contemplated that, if a more permanent structure is desired, it may be of some material whichjis water-resisting throughout, it not being intended that the invention shall be limited in respect to the material utilized, as there are a multitudi'nous number of different materials which maybe used'forthis purpose.

The sheet of material is substantially rectangular in shape and is folded transversely of its length to form a plurality of pleats or folds Ill of uniform height. The set of ends of the pleats along one edge of the material is gathered and secured in compressed relationship by means of a tubular rivet II which extends through the compressed ends of the pleats and has its ends turned over to hold it against removal.

A tie member [2 of flexible material is threaded through the tubular rivet, and knots as shown at I3 may be tied in this member to hold it against movement through the rivet.

As shown in Figure 3, the outermost pleats are provided with suitable fastening means, whereby the ends of the sheet may be brought together and detachably secured. In the present instance, these end pleats are provided with snap-buttons, the complementary parts of which are respectively carried by the pleats, as shown at H and 15. Any form of fastening means may be used and, if desired, talon fasteners or other improved fasteners may be substituted for the snap-buttons.

When it is desired to usethe device as a hat, the end pleats are brought into juxtaposedparale lel relationship as shown at 16 in Figure3, the snap-buttons or other fastening means operating to detachably secure the end pleats together..

When assembled in this manner, a conicalshaped hat structure is formed in which the.

pleats are in compressed relationat the vertex of the cone and radiate in gradually increasing expanded relation as the 'brim I! of the hat. is reached. Although the hat is constructed of a relatively flexible material, it will be obvious that these pleats operate to substantially strengthen the material in a radial direction and retain the shape of the hat. V

In the hat so formed, it will beobserved that the compressed ends of the end pleats are bent more or less rearwardly as shown at IS in Figure 4, and that a slight opening is formed at the vertex of the hat. This openingenables the loose ends of the tie member lZ to be passed therethrough so that the tie member may be tied around the face of the wearer and secured underneath the wearers chin to hold the hatin position.

By further reference to Figure}, it willv be noted that the longitudinal center line of the gathered ends of the pleats at the vertex of the cone is disposed at an angle to the vertical center line of the cone. With this arrangement, when the hat is disposed on a wearers head, the cone may be moved to a raised or flattened condition simply by pulling on the ties or releasing them 1 so that the sides of the cone will be fulcrumed on the head of the wearer. The adjusting process is illustrated in Figure 1, where it will'be noted that movement of the wearers hand to the dotted line position will cause the rim of the'hat to move from the position shown in full lines to a raised position as shown in dotted lines;

Once the hat has been adjusted by manipulating the ties, the ties may be secured under the wearers chin to hold the hat in adjusted position.

one or more of the pleats a series of serrations as shown at I9. These serrations may extend throughout a considerable length of the pleat, or may be confined to that portion which would ordinarily engage the wearers. head. Moreover,

it is contemplated that these serrations may, if

have its parts disposed in knock-down relationship, partially assembled relationship to form a fan, and in completely assembled relationship to form a sport hat for beach and other wear; which is provided with novel means for adjusting the crown and brim relationship of the hat; which includes a novel arrangement whereby the parts may be secured in assembled condition; which includes novel means for holding the hat in nonslipping engagement with the head of a wearer; and which may be manufactured at a small cost.

It is, of course, to be understood that although we have described in detail a single embodiment of our invention, the invention is not to be thus limited, but only insofar as defined by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A costume article comprising a single sheet of flexible material transversely pleated from one endto the other, means for securing one set of ends of said pleats in gathered relation, a tie member at said gathered set of ends, and means for detachably connecting the last pleat at one end of the sheet'to the last pleat at the other end of the sheet in juxtaposed relation.

A combination fan and hat comprising a single sheet of flexible material transversely folded from one end to the other, the folds at one set of ends being secured adjacent one edge of the sheet in compressed relation, said folds normally occupying parallel relationship and being extensible to partially opened position to occupy diverging relationship from said secured ends and form a fan, and to fully opened position with the opposite ends of said sheet in juxtaposed parallel relation to form a substantially conical hat, and means for detachably securing the ends of said sheet in said latter position.

3; A conical beach hat comprising a conical structure defining a plurality of radial pleats, certain of said pleats having their lowermost fold edges serrated to prevent sliding movement of the structure on the head of a wearer.

4. A head covering comprising a sheet of material pleated transversely, means securing one set of ends of said pleats together in gathered relation at one edge only of said sheet, said pleated sheet being fanned about the secured ends of the pleats to bring the opposite ends of the sheet together to form a conical structure with said means disposed exteriorly thereof, means for securing the ends of the sheet together, and ties extending from said means through the apex of the structure to the interior thereof.

NANCY P. RISTELL. ARTHUR RISTELL. 

